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During November 2024, England fly-half Ford cut a dejected figure at Allianz Stadium.

Ford had been summoned as a substitute to help England secure a memorable triumph against New Zealand, but instead was unable to score a decisive kick along with a drop-kick while his team lost in a close contest.

In the wake of those pivotal failures, Ford needed to put in effort to secure another chance to achieve success for the national side.

He saw just 25 minutes of action in the recent Six Nations but a string of impressive performances, especially during the warm-weather tour of Argentina and the United States as Fin Smith and Marcus Smith were absent for British and Irish Lions duty, reestablished him strongly among starting candidates.

The veteran player fully validated Steve Borthwick's faith in starting him against the All Blacks, plus the club standout delivered a player-of-the-match performance to support the hosts to a first win over New Zealand at home since 2012.

The pivotal moment occurred as Ford nailed back-to-back drop-goals immediately preceding halftime.

This assisted England overcome a 12-0 deficit to trail 12-11 when the half ended, ahead of the manager's skilled reserves repeatedly excelled during the final period to help his side to a convincing 33-19 triumph.

"You have to give credit to the senior players within our side, especially George," the coach stated. "That period when he converted those crucial kicks, he controlled the match absolutely brilliantly.

"One year earlier I believed Ford substituted and competed really well [versus the All Blacks].

"One kick struck the post while he attempted a pressured drop-kick, but he played really well.

"He's an exceptional captain, an outstanding athlete and an even better person. We are privileged to feature him within our roster."

Drop-goals 'part of the strategy'

The All Blacks started quickly during the match, building a twelve-point advantage via touchdowns by two key players.

Following Ollie Lawrence's impressive score, the fly-half's successive drop-kicks ensured England bounced into the halftime break with psychological advantage.

"The challenging thing during those periods is, when the scoreboard says twelve to zero, we can stick to our strategy and what we believe the best way to play the game is," Ford said.

"We worked our way back into the game and we recognized were we to commence the latter half effectively, with the bench coming on, we were in a good position.

"Despite having fifteen minutes to go, we found ourselves defending our goal line with a yellow card, so we had challenges there as well.

"I believe this illustrates Test rugby is - who can deal during those situations most effectively."

The two attempts happened within close succession while the number 10 who executed three drop-kicks in a win against Argentina at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, showed all his century of caps experience.

Ford successfully executed two drop-kicks with Sale during a Premiership match conducted in difficult conditions at Bath - it is a skill he has mastered thoroughly.

"The drop-kicks is always in the plan," Ford stated further.

"Steve is such a phenomenal leader that he consistently in my ear about it, and rightly so because three points prove important at any stage of competition."

Ford guided England excellently around the field the complete contest, executing intelligent kicks - for both attacking and defensive purposes and in finding space against the defensive line.

His signature tactical bomb also bamboozled the New Zealand player, who couldn't collect.

Following his start in the English victory versus the Wallabies in early November, Ford relinquished the fly-half position to the younger Smith against Fiji seven days later.

But the biggest test on paper this autumn was presented by the multiple World Cup winners, with Ford regaining his position.

England, now on a run of an unbeaten streak of ten, play against Argentina in late November and curiosity remains to determine whether the coach returns to Fin Smith or continues with Ford.

Whatever choice occurs, Ford established ahead of the next tournament before the World Cup that there is plenty of career ahead in him.